AO account hacking on the increase

[Jasper2002]

Please change your passwords guys and pass it on. This is not fun for anyone involved except the hacker.

Lets try to keep this scumbag mofo out

Jasp

[Smacdevil]

Change your passwords regularly and don't TRUST 3rd party tools for AO etc.

[Ukulele]

don't TRUST 3rd party tools for AO etc.

Or at least be careful where you download them from

[DoctorLeo]

Is he still active? Funcom better do something or find out who.. or they will lose lots of players. doom for them

[Ukulele]

http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=449241

Might be false alarm too but I would take it seriously atm.

edit: had a wrong link here

[Kid]

Simple really....If you are worried about TinyDump, just don't launch it until after you have logged in to AO. That combined with strong firewall config and you should be safe...99.99% sure.

And weekly, check to see what services and applications are started at bootup. If there is anything you are not sure of, just check it out in google. If anyone wants info on how to do this, just let me know.

And a good trojan scanner can be found at http://www.trojanscanner.com. It runs from the site itself (8mb activeX control installs though). Worth running every week.

My pc's have been virus free and trojan free for 4 years now. With simple precautions and only installing software from trusted sources, you will be safe.

[Ukulele]

The hackings have gotten very mean... not only does he steal/give away/delete credits and items, he also destroys what he can, using all reset points and pumping IP to skills that are useless. He also disbanded an org when he hacked org president.. That's just sick..

AO tools really shouldn't have any business connecting anywhere in the internet except for AORC (obviously) so if your firewall asks for a permission to allow the connection, it's better to block it. Not 100% sure method since some viruses can propably sneak past some firewalls one way or another.

Autoupdate features may be nice and easy for users but they also bring a security risk when people learn to trust them too much and allow everything.

To improve your safety:

Get rid of Internet explorer and use Firefox or Opera (disable javascript and Java unless you really need them)

Use proper firewall and antivirus tools + spyware removal tools. There are plenty of good and free ones out there!

Get your 3rd party programs only from trusted sites and if the program doesn't need internet access block it always if your firewall asks.

Do not open suspicious URLs that somebody you don't know in AO gives you one to "check" something. Especially if it ends with ".exe"

Use strong password that doesn't really mean anything, has high and low case letters and numbers mixed. In worst cases hacker can guess the password..

Don't make toons in game that have same name as your account name. If hacker doesn't know it, he can't log in with it. If you already have a toon with same name as your account then at least be quiet about it

Use different passwords to different places. Even strong password doesn't do you any good if you leave it to every site you use.

Don't share your account! Even if you have good security, your friend might not.

Of course you all know it already but some people are still too lazy to actually do all those things. Be safe!

[Smacdevil]

A majority of the hacking incidents have been caused by those who leave the password saved into the Anarchy Online client itself or people who had given the information from an account.

Just an addition tip - don't save your AO password in the launcher - as the file that stores the password is not even encrypted which makes it extremely easy to write software that sends your full logon info to a hacker.

Personally I stay far away from 3rd party utils like damage dumpers and bank/inventory listers (etc. etc.), and recommend everyone do the same if you worry about being hacked. Malicious code in one or several 3rd party apps for AO is the prime suspect in the case of the recent hackings.

[Kid]

A majority of the hacking incidents have been caused by those who leave the password saved into the Anarchy Online client itself or people who had given the information from an account.

Just an addition tip - don't save your AO password in the launcher - as the file that stores the password is not even encrypted which makes it extremely easy to write software that sends your full logon info to a hacker.

Personally I stay far away from 3rd party utils like damage dumpers and bank/inventory listers (etc. etc.), and recommend everyone do the same if you worry about being hacked. Malicious code in one or several 3rd party apps for AO is the prime suspect in the case of the recent hackings.

On the other hand, leaving your password saved in the launcher protects you from keylogging. But yeah, an app that reads it from a file would be more likely.

Whatever you do...don't under any circumstances install any 3rd party tools for AO. I admit that I did install TinyDump a while ago (before the hacking started), but made sure I got it from the writers website, and I thoroughly checked it out before installing. Saying that, with the latest hacks, I would not take such a chance again.

Remember kids...just say no!